The advantages of involving alumni in graduate program recruitment are outlined, and suggestions are given for the administration of these recruitment programs. (MSE)

Provides advice for small alumni offices on how to sponsor an alumni travel program, focusing on booking a travel agent, deciding where to go, using faculty as tour guides or lecturers, making time for alumni office staff to go along, remembering special touches, visiting local alumni, avoiding overt fund raising, and being prepared for problems.…

Professional event planners give advice on producing pleasing alumni special events. Planning elements include creating a theme, picking the place, finding talented people to help, thinking carefully about seating options, setting the mood, having clear objectives, drafting a detailed script, and managing last-minute changes. (MSE)

College alumni directors are finding that alumni want more than parties at their reunions and are overcoming attendance slumps with creative, substantive programing. Ideas include faculty seminars on topics of current interest, sometimes integrated with professional continuing education, alumni panel discussions, involving the family, involving…

College reunion success depends on careful planning, including (1) starting early; (2) documenting all planning efforts; (3) motivating, including, and communicating with volunteers; (4) using formal and informal meeting time effectively; (5) providing a program highlighting events planned; (6) freeing staff to be volunteer-reliant; and (7)…

Basic principles of designing a reunion gift program include beginning small, researching class prospects, gathering volunteers, determining the financial goal, communicating needs and intentions, organizing volunteers, advertising well, and making the donation at the reunion a major event. More ambitious plans can be tied into the program later.…

Advice is offered for making college alumni reunions fun and memorable, illustrated with anecdotes from various institutions. Suggestions include exciting opening activities, focusing on the particular habits or characteristics of a class, appealing to a variety of tastes, emphasizing class identity, savoring favorite campus traditions, and…

Alumni continuing education programs can be self-supporting, but they will not thrive unless faculty and administration appreciate their intrinsic value. Garnering ideas and support from the campus community can be invaluable. The alumni program director's goal is to show that continuing education is an extension of the institution's primary…

Alumni leaders should be included in a school or college capital campaign drive. The alumni office can help find prospects, provide events and programs for fund raising, promote the campaign, involve alumni staff members. Alumni themselves can assist in campaign planning and inspire others to give by donating themselves. (MSE)

When events or circumstances (war, conversion to coeducation, class size) have disrupted college class cohesiveness or alumni identification with a class or institution, creative planning can bring them back to campus. Segmentation into interest groups may also unite alumni with each other and the institution. (MSE)

A bad attitude can sabotage recruiting volunteers. After examining attitudes, alumni administrators need to set goals, make plans, write job descriptions, recruit the right people for the job, and delegate properly. Ways to ensure good continuing relations are offered. (MLW)

This book is a how-to manual on creating an alumni relations program, including starting an alumni association. Brief sections address the following topics: defining purpose, launching the organization, establishing a membership policy, establishing a budget, writing a mission statement, creating a long-range plan, working with the development…

Programming that involves both the alumni association and current students can build good working relationships, promote the alumni office, and help provide efficient student programming. The experiences of several colleges and universities illustrate the creative role alumni can play in campus programs. (MSE)

Provides advice on how to instill the giving habit in recent graduates and how to encourage them to take an active part in alumni issues. Development officers need to keep track of recent alumni, use telephone and electronic mail rather than letters to contact young alumni, and develop special programs to encourage giving by recent graduates. (MDM)

This collection of 32 papers focuses on the annual fund as a basic and central part of development programs at schools, colleges, and universities. It describes the fundamental elements of the annual fund from planning to evaluation and sets forth methods of solicitation that reach all the institution's constituencies. Section 1, titled…